Saturday, 18 February 2017

...Crew! The beautifully designed and detailed cockpit is crying out for crew members! Of course there aren't any readily available so if you want crew you have to make them yourself...that's just what I've done! Converted from the seated Dreamforge Eisenkern 'Keilerkopf' APC (for sale on the Dreamforge website for only $50 - a bargain!) seated passengers, a couple of 1/48 Vietnam era helicopter crew heads and a bit of Greenstuff they are, perhaps, a little bit too big but they do fit and I'm quite pleased how they turned out. They're pictured below in the second of my two 'Dragon's' and will be transferred to the painted one when they themselves have been painted.

Thursday, 2 February 2017

...includes a very nice brass-etch fret containing engine vents for the small and large engine pods and the rear of the main upper hull intakes. It also includes a multitude of small steps (in two sizes which can be attached flat to the surface or folded out to form a step) to array around the landing craft as you see fit. I originally had no plans to use them but felt it necessary to illustrate how the crew might access the cockpit. In theory they would climb the steps on the small engine pod (when landed, I presumed, it would be in a vertical position) step onto the top of the pod and then onto the sloping hull (I'm planning to add a non-slip surface there) and then use the two steps on the side of the upper hull to finally enter the cockpit. I also added four on each side of the cargo hold although using them to enter the hold doesn't quite seem feasible because of the height from floor to to cargo bay (maybe they extend). If I'm not happy with that reasoning I can always leave them unopened and flat. I've started painting the interior of the cockpit and cargo bay but so far they have only been airbrushed in a base colour with a little zenithal lighting. As you can see the cargo bay is large enough to accommodate a small vehicle (an Anvil Industry 'Instigator') which could use the rear ramp to enter and exit (the ramp probably narrows a little too much at the top to actually allow this to happen but hey...)
I haven't solved the conundrum of adding pilots as yet but have thought about adding harness to the seats (the set in the photo doesn't quite work but I have several different sets to try) If I give up on adding crew.
BTW the upper hull is just sitting on top of the lower hull at the moment - how good a fit is that!?